


Start The Hunt

by FracturedTwilight



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Bounty Hunters, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Sexual Tension, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-24
Updated: 2016-05-22
Packaged: 2018-05-22 22:57:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6096697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FracturedTwilight/pseuds/FracturedTwilight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jake moved out of his hometown in order to escape the memories of his past. But when his past comes crashing into his home and takes something precious from him, he has no choice but to throw himself back into the fray, even if it means putting his own life at risk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Noise Outside

The light patter of rain sounded on the roof of the cabin as the dense cloud of fog rolled through the pine forest surrounding it. The faint glow of dawn was growing behind the distant mountains, slightly lighting up the mist and turning it a pale grey color. For the moment, all was calm, and Jake leaned back in his chair with a sigh, his dark green eyes affixed on the scenery. He had become accustomed to the sight of the sun rising in the early morning and illuminating the woodland outside his window, despite having lived in a big city up until a few years ago. Although, the fog on this particular day was quite thick, and he did not expect that the sun’s golden rays would be able to pierce through it.

                For a few moments he simply sat, listening to the soft, steady beat of the rain as the grey glow of fog became whiter with the rising of the sun. It was then that he heard a faint, yet nearby noise break the calm peace of the morning. It was a growl, a deep rumble emanating from somewhere outside. Jake pulled himself forward in the chair slowly, his ears intent on identifying the source. The growling crept its way toward the house, until it was so close it merged with another noise: the churning of dirt and rock. Still, leaned forward in his chair, Jake was finally able to identify these foreign sounds. A vehicle had just pulled up to his home, its engine roaring as the tires disturbed the moist ground under them.

                He stood up, unnerved. Not only were visitors an extremely rare occurrence, but the time of arrival was far too suspicious. Why would anyone drive to such a remote location this early in the morning? He stood with rigid stillness. He dared not move; he didn’t want take the risk should these new ‘visitors’ be here with negative intent. His gaze moved quickly around the room, first noticing the dim light of the table lamp before fixing itself on the front door that lay down the hall. He kept listening to the rumbling of the engine, the tires no longer moving across the ground.

                For what seemed like a long period of time, he stayed where he was, his stare locked on the door. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he waited, still not risking movement. Then, like a burst of thunder across the sky, a loud _bang_ erupted from outside, and the dim glow the lamp had been producing flickered before dying out. Jake let out a sharp gasp at the sudden clamor, his eyes wide open. Without a second thought he ceased his stillness and took off up the nearby stairs with a burst of speed. He had a bad feeling he knew what was about to happen, and that meant he now had one priority.

                Immediately upon reaching the top of the steps, he veered left and bolted towards his daughter’s room. Skidding to a halt in front of the door, he gripped the handle shakily and opened it. Sitting upright in the small bed near one of the corners of the room, a young girl with wide, grass green eyes stared at him through round glasses and long, raven hair.

                “What’s going on?” she asked, her voice sweet and naïve. Jake moved over to her quickly, until he stood directly next to her.

                “It’s alright Jade, don’t worry. Just come with daddy, ok?” Jake struggled to keep his voice steady, fear and adrenaline coursing through him. Jade looked at her father with minimal understanding, but did as she was asked and got out of bed, clutching to his shirt for comfort. Jake led her out of the room as swiftly as he could, doing his best not to frighten her. However, the moment they exited the room, the sound of glass breaking rang out from downstairs.

                “What was that?”Jade asked, her grip tightening on the shirt as she looked toward the stairs. Jake swallowed the lump in his throat.

                “N-nothing important sweetheart. Come on now.” He led her to the intersection at the top of the staircase, then looked up. The door to the attic hovered above him, the small rope to pull it open barely visible in the shadows. Reaching up, he latched a hold of it and pulled down, revealing the short staircase that led to the topmost floor of the cabin. Jake moved his daughter toward them intently.

                “I need you to stay up here for a little while, okay?” he spoke softly, beginning to hear movement downstairs. Jade began to make her way up, only to pause mid-way and look back to her father.

                “Why? Is something wrong?”

Jake became flustered. He didn’t have the time to explain all of this now. The sounds of footsteps were making their way to the stairs.

                “Just trust me, okay? I promise I’ll come back to get you.”

Jade still looked unsure, but made no further argument as she proceeded up the few remaining steps. As soon as he knew she was safely at the top, Jake closed the door as quickly as possible. Just as the small _click_ of the door closing reached his ears, the footsteps came pounding up the stairs.

                “Hey, you!” a cold, demanding voice shouted at him from behind. He turned tensely, his fists clenched. Before him stood two young men, blonde-haired and both wearing dark shades that covered their eyes. Jake flicked his gaze anxiously between the two of them, more distracted by the knife and shotgun being pointed towards him rather than the men holding them. He now realized that the bad feeling he’d had earlier was right. These weren’t just any run-of-the-mill home invaders; they were far more dangerous than that. These two were bounty hunters, and that meant they had no intention of leaving until they got what they came for, by any means necessary.

                “Don’t try anything.” the man wielding the shotgun hissed at him, raising the weapon up for emphasis. Jake glared at him in silence as the second man took a few steps toward him, the metal blade of the dagger glowing grimly in the dim light.

“Easy, Dave, don’t shoot him just yet.” He spoke with a calm tone to his voice, seemingly unaffected by his current situation.

“Where’s the girl?” he asked with an icy smoothness that sent chills down Jake’s spine. But he kept his mouth shut. No way in hell would he give his daughter up that easily.

The man sighed.

“This is only going to be difficult if you make it difficult, so just tell us where she is.”

Jake narrowed his eyes. How stupid did they think he was?

“She’s not here, so how about you shove off?!” he growled.

The hunter huffed in annoyance, turning to his partner.

“Can’t say I didn’t try. Go on then.” he gestured to Dave with a wave of his hand, the knife giving off its eerie sheen once more, and headed down the stairs without another word. Jake looked to the other hunter anxiously, unsure of what he had just been told to do. Dave smiled slightly, taking a step forward. Jake didn’t move. The only exit he had was the stairs, but they currently had a gun in front of them. Then, out of nowhere, Dave took a swift step toward him, the stock of his shotgun on a straight path to the side of his head. Before Jake could react, it collided, and all he felt was a shock of pain before his vision faded out.


	2. Fire in His Eyes

Jake was greeted with a throbbing headache by the time he regained consciousness. He silently cursed the hunter for whacking him so damn hard, and he imagined there was probably a lump where the shotgun had hit him. Yet he found himself unable to move his hands and test his theory. Upon realizing this, his eyes jolted open, looking up. His hands were chained to a support beam above him, rendering them useless. He wriggled them slightly in the vain hope that he could get free, but all he got in return was the feeling of metal pinching his skin.

                “Don’t waste your time.”

                Jake looked over with a start to see the knife-wielding hunter leaned back against the wall, staring at him with a half amused smirk.

                “You’re not leaving until we get what we came for.” he said, pushing himself off the wall and casually walking toward Jake. He moved until he was only about a foot away from his face, close enough for Jake to see the faint golden color of the hunter’s eyes behind his glasses.

                “Why can’t you just make it easy for yourself? Just tell us where she is.”

Jake glared at him in defiance.

“I already told you, she’s not here.” He held his gaze with the hunter for a few moments, not another word passing between them. The hunter then turned to look at Dave, who had somehow slipped into the room without Jake noticing.

“Did you find her?” he asked. Dave shook his head, drawing a sigh out of his partner.

“You probably missed something… again. I’ll go take a look, you can deal with him.”

As the hunter made his leave, Jake came to the realization that he was now in his basement, the light from the floor above flooding its way down the stairs, illuminating all but the furthest corners of the empty space, save a few random cardboard boxes. He had little time to reflect on this, however, as Dave let out a sharp laugh, looking him over thoroughly.

“Y’know, this whole ‘tough guy’ act you’re putting on doesn’t fool me. I can see the fear in your eyes.”

He slipped his sunglasses off his face and placed them into one of his pockets, and then proceeded to procure a wooden baseball bat that hung next to his shot gun from the leather strap looped over his shoulder. Jake looked at it with a growing dread, immediately noticing how the end of it had been modified to sport off several long, sharp nails. Dave let out another small chuckle, diverting his attention.

“I have no problem doing this, I hope you know.”

He twirled the bat in his hand, the wooden club spinning a full circle.

“But out of the kindness of my heart, I’ll give you one last chance to cough it up.” He twirled the bat again, not taking his eyes off Jake, which, he now noticed with a tinge of surprise, were bright red.

“So where is she?” he asked, his amused tone replaced by a cold, demanding one. Jake felt the hairs on the back of neck lift. He was beginning to question whether a man or a demon stood before him.

His silence brought on a shrug from Dave, his crimson eyes flicking shut for a second before refocusing on Jake with deadly determination.

“Alright, your choice then.”

He moved a few paces closer, the bat still circling in his hand. He let it spin for another second or two before grasping the handle with his other hand, bringing it up behind his head. Then, with one audible _swish_ through the air, the bat hit its mark. A bright flash of pain shot up Jake’s hip and spread throughout the surrounding areas of his body. He could do little more than bite his lip to hold back a cry of distress. Dave took a glance at Jake’s face and let out a quick laugh.

“Oh, sorry, did that hurt? Well I hate to tell you this, but until we have the girl, it’s only going to get worse from here.”

Jake felt a spark of anger flicker inside him. Demon or not, this gut was an asshole.

“Still not gonna say anything? Hm… well, I suppose that’s fair. We did just start, after all.”

With a lazy shrug, he raised the bat up again and took another swing, following it up with several more afterwards. Each hit sent violent shocks through Jake’s nerves, and he could begin to feel the warmth of his blood trickling down his skin. He guessed there would probably be serious bruising there too, possibly even some swelling. But despite all this, he held his tongue, not letting anything louder than a grunt escape him. He couldn’t break now, especially not for the pleasure of this sadistic bastard.

After quite a few more hits, Dave paused. Jake let out a breath he had been holding in, his sides aching as they heaved.

“Resilient, aren’tcha? I’m surprised.” Dave said, the red-stained bat glistening softly.

“I would’ve expected a pansy like you to give in by now.”

Jake, still panting slightly, looked at the hunter spitefully.

“And I would have expected a guy like you to hit less like a girl. Guess we were both wrong, huh?”

Dave’s eye twitched slightly. His grip tightened on the bat for a second, then relaxed. A smirk had made its way back onto the hunter’s face.

“Better watch your mouth. Wouldn’t want to end up like your wife, would you?”

The spark of anger Jake had felt before suddenly ignited into an inferno.

“What?” he growled, causing Dave to snicker.

“Did I hit a nerve? Yeah, I read up on you before we got here. Found out _all_ about how you r precious little… Jane, was it? How Jane was brutally murdered a few years back. Tragic, really. I mean; bleeding out? Sounds like a pretty awful way to go.”

“Shut the hell up!” Jake shouted, the chains rattling as they stopped him from punching the hunter in the jaw.

Dave chuckled again, brushing a few strands of hair from his face.

“My, my. Touchy, aren’t we? With an attitude like this, we’re not going to get anywhere.” He lifted the bat behind his head again, eyes gleaming with menace.

“You said I wasn’t hitting hard enough, right? Well don’t worry, I won’t hold back this time.”

The bat took another swing.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, you lovely people who decided to give my little story a look! I would first like to thank you here and now for even clicking on this in the first place! You're awesome!<3
> 
> This is the first story I've written that I've REALLY tried to make sound good (so I hope it does...), not to mention the first work I've ever put up here. I know it's not top-notch, but hey, I tried my best, so what more can ya do?
> 
> Anyway, feedback is very much appreciated! Thanks again~!


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